Saturday, October 25, 2008

Househunting: Take 2

Good sale price, and we anticipate closing the first week in December. Thank you all so much for praying of the sale of our house, and for God keeping our house safe during Hurricane Ike.

But...this means that we must now get serious about finding a place here.

The good news for us is that the home prices here are dropping daily. I looked at a house yesterday and this morning the price had dropped $20,000.

More good news: My new real estate agent Luanne is terrific! We looked at 22 properties in the last 24 hours, and it felt like being on a road trip with a good friend, with lots of yakking and laughing and enjoying all the fall colors around us as we drove between the houses I was seeing.

Right now we are focusing on houses somewhat close to downtown. That means older homes, and since ALL I am really interested in is getting a good mountain view, it also means I get to see a lot of houses that are real doozies.

I have to share the crazy fun of what some of the houses have to offer:

Do you like the marble on this vanity? The wall mounted pink toilet was a PERFECT match! And ONE of the lights above the sink still worked!

How about seeing this wall paper to wake you up each morning?(If you are LDS and can't have coffee, I guess this would be the next best thing....)Imagine you open the front door on another house and that this is the first thing you see.Yes, gold veined mirror was BIG here at one point, and some folks forgot to take it back down once the craze was over.

But wait!

Don't let the mirrors bother you. Just look down instead....

Yes, right inside the front door below the mirror is this opportunity to descend down, down...down....into the brown unknown.

(I didn't bother to go downstairs; the view from the top didn't cut it with me. I was pretty sure the basement view wouldn't have been an improvement!)

If your bed looks like a tree, why shouldn't your room look like a squirrel's nest? ALL the rooms in the house were layered in cast off clothing.I was nervous a body might be found under all the mess.

How could anyone sleep with a wallpaper ready to part and expose the hidden terrors of this place?

Which of course would be this.But then again...aren't all laundry rooms terrifying?I think so...it is just terrifying that how no matter how much laundry I do, the next moment there always seems to be more laundry...and this room seems designed to underscore that madness.

As I mentioned earlier, seeing the fall colors really brightens the house hunting experience.

Isn't this Japanese maple just absolutely amazing???

It is like a bush on fire!

Inside the house we found out that the bush wasn't the only "on fire" thing about the house. Luanne cracked me up: "Oh look! She must cook like I cook!"

This house was done mostly in Joan Collins silvery pink with crystal chandeliers EVERYWHERE, with gold leaf everything, and New Orleans-like wrought iron, only it all was painted gold instead of black.

Ewww....

With gold shag carpets.

Double ewww...

Gold shag carpet SQUARES with boxes of replacement squares still at the ready!

Hmmmm....maybe the gold shag carpet would work after all....why tear it all up when with just a little effort we could patch-patch-patch it right back up to 1960s style glory?

Same house....any one want to guess what this door is all about???

Maybe it would be better not to know.

Maybe we would sleep better at night if we never actually find out.

(For the record...I did see some nice houses, but seriously, aren't these pictures a lot more fun?)

12 comments:

Oh Jill ! I am THRILLED your house sold ! And I LOVE house hunting with you! HaHa!Those houses are hilarious... obviously more condusive to garthering blog material than serious buying consideration! I hope you find the house of your dreams at an unbelievable price !!

Ah ha ha ha!!!!! Wow. I mean...wow. Amazing! I must say though, that you look absolutely fantastic!!! I love the shirt, the orange jacket, and the backdrop of the maple. And it's not just the icky previous pictures to make you stand out as looking like the beauty that you are, as a contrast.Love you, and I am enjoying the house hunting tour!!!

JIll, God answered prayer number one and I'm confident he'll answer prayer number 2 as well. (in the house department. .)OH. .house hunting with you is such an experience, I can't believe what is really on the market.. . and to think you likely only saw a few of the weird things to see.

What a great relief for you, and wonderful answer to prayer that your Houston house is sold!

Your house hunting pictures are .... actually scary! It's hard to imagine that people who are trying to sell their houses would keep them like that knowing they will be viewed by others. I'm glad you're enjoying the new agent - makes the challenge of buying a new place much easier.

What a HOOT!!! Great that your house is selling. Congrats! I'm sure you'll find the perfect nest with mountain view. Could that maple be the Biblical Burning Bush? I'll bet so! Gorgeous! Worth writing about I'd say.K Q:-)

P.S. Shocking isn't it? I mean the way some people are willing to show their homes with dirty laundry etc. lying around. Not exactly smart "staging."

Oh, my, I think I might jump into the shower after that tour! Thanks for the vintage tour of home decor we almost forgot. I wish you well on the final selection! Praise God those prices are falling! He is good, and you'll find your new nest without the squirrels!

I'm Jill. I'm a librarian and milliner now living in Salt Lake City with my husband of 37 years and my three shelter adopted cats. I'm 60, was born and expected I would spent my whole life in San Diego, save for two years in Corvallis Oregon in college.
Then beginning in 1997, right after our youngest graduated from high school my husband and I began "empty nesting" on the move. We lived one year in Almenden CA (San Jose area), two years in Dallas TX and eight years on Houston TX before moving Salt Lake City in the fall of 2008.
I love it here, but counting on Heaven being my ultimate hometown! I do hope we will one day be neighbors there?
I have two adult children; a daughter in San Diego and a son (and daughter-in-law) who also live in Salt Lake City; two beloved grandsons, and parents who were born and still live in San Diego, and who read my blog every day.